“It (poetry) just hits me, an image or a phrase, and it starts to write itself. Most of my ideas come just when I’m going off to sleep, when my conscious-mind, my analytical and logical mind, is dozing off and sleep brings things, other things, out, brings things to a head, the unconscious, and I write them down…”
Tents shielding vendors from the summer sun line both sides of Church Street, with a narrow aisle between in which a constant stream of people walk back and forth. As they move from one booth to the next, visitors to the New Paltz Open Air Market, now in its third week, are clearly pleased by what might be described as the old farmer’s market on steroids.
Hot and humid weather with some rain didn’t appear to dampen the enthusiasm of the hundreds of attendees who streamed into Town Park for a picnic-style event culminating in fireworks.
Films are shown Mondays. Upcoming titles include: “Breakfast at Tiffany’s,” “Cinema Paradisio,” “Mask,” and “Lion.” Music is perform Thursdays. Upcoming acts include Cornbread Jam, Vicki Russell and The Big Distraction.
When it finally got dark enough for the fireworks to be seen to best advantage, Soul Purpose ceded the stage to Esme Ariel Hyman, whose soulful, belting rendition of “The Star-Spangled Banner” has become a Fourth of July tradition in recent years. Then the rockets’ red glare began in earnest — along with plenty of other shimmering colors bespangling the sky. Once again, summer has officially come to New Paltz.
Once upon a time, street artists were widely regarded as mere vandals — as scourges to polite society. But graffiti has a long and honorable history, both as an artform and an expression of sociopolitical protest.
It’s not often we get to retrace the steps we’ve taken on our path through life. The road is long and winding, and going back to revisit the stops along the way is not always possible. But for Gail and Paul Appeldorn, their 50th wedding anniversary this year brought the opportunity to do just that. And their “trip of a lifetime” included coming back to where it all started for them: New Paltz’s Mohonk Mountain House.
Woody has served as the school district’s athletic director since 1999.
The fireworks will be held Friday, June 30 and the Tiny House and Green Living Freedom Fest Saturday and Sunday, July 1-2, both at the county fairgrounds.
The event launches from Hasbrouck Park this weekend, with 25-, 50- and 100-mile options.